North Branch falls apart after halftime

North Branch had preached all week about the need to wear out the Simley Spartans during their football game. Not only does Simley have a small team, they use more than half of their starters both way. Seven of their players started on both offense and defense. Despite having some talent on their team, the Spartans were getting stretched thin. It was never more evident than their game against Hill-Murray the week prior to their contest against North Branch. The Spartans took a 20-0 lead by halftime, but eventually they wore down and Hill-Murray scored 21 points in the fourth quarter to win 21-20.

The key to this game, the Vikings figured, was the first half. North Branch got off to an inauspicious start when they went three and out on their opening drive. After a Reid Johnson punt, Simley’s offense, led by quarterback Nick Wanzek and fullback Jake Short -- two wrestling state champions -- fired up. After one first down, Wanzek took an option keeper to his right and sliced past the linemen and in front of the defensive backs and scored a 49-yard touchdown. Simley missed their two-point conversion, but had an early lead. Then, the North Branch offense that had been so potent against St. Francis the week before awoke. Simley was running a 3-4 defense to try and stymie North Branch’s option attack, but the Vikings had a simple counter, give the ball to fullback Rance Ashley.

The thick and stocky senior absolutely ran over Simley defenders as the Vikings marched down the field. Senior quarterback Zack Sundly would occasionally keep it and rip off a big chunk of yardage on the drive too. Eventually, Sundly finished the drive with a one-yard touchdown plunge. A Logan Klatt extra point put the Vikings up 7-6. On Simley’s second drive, the big play plagued North Branch again. In the first set of downs, Short, who is awfully speedy for a fullback, took a pitch to the left and began racing towards the sideline. Junior linebacker Brandon Thauwald had him lined up in his sights, but he was also fighting off a blocker. He ultimately couldn’t do both and Short broke free through that tackle and strafed down the sideline into the end zone for a 64-yard touchdown run and a 12-7 Simley lead in the first quarter.

North Branch quickly answered back, using a big play of their own as the catalyst. The Vikings went back to their option offense and Ashley again came up huge. After North Branch had moved just across midfield, Ashley took an inside hand off up the middle and bounced it out to his left. He made a Simley defender miss and another Simley defender pay for getting in his way before he had a clear path to the end zone. Ashley was caught from behind just inside the 10-yard line, but three plays later, Sundly finished another drive off, this time with a seven-yard touchdown scamper. Klatt’s extra point gave North Branch a 14-12 lead with just over four minutes left in the half. On Simley’s next drive, the defense, led by Thauwald and linebacker Dylan Dahle produced a stop on Simley’s potent rushing attack.

As the Spartans lined up to punt, Vikings Head Coach Nick Nitti gave the signal to his defense for an all out block. Dahle complied with that request and broke through up the middle and blocked the punt inside Simley’s 20 yard line, setting North Branch up with wonderful field position and a short clock to work with, The Vikings cashed in on the opportunity, scoring a touchdown on a three-yard run by senior Tony Denn. The two point conversion was good, and North Branch enjoyed a 22-12 lead with only a few ticks left in the first half. Things had gone well for North Branch, they figured to own the second half with most of Simley’s starters sucking wind. The halftime break was extended a bit for North Branch to induct four new members into their Hall of Fame. Then, the start of the second half was delayed nearly 15 minutes when one of the young sixth graders who had been scrimmaging at halftime suffered a serious leg injury just before the two varsity teams were set to retake the field. A squad car eventually made it’s way onto the track, followed by an ambulance, to take the young boy away. On Simley’s opening drive, the big play struggles of the North Branch defense reared their ugly head again. Wanzek found a seam in the North Branch defense and exploited it for a 59-yard touchdown run, trimming the lead early to 22-20 when Simley’s two point conversion was good. North Branch began to answer back on their ensuing drive. They used the potent mix of Sundly and Ashley to move the ball quickly into Simley’s territory. That’s when disaster struck. On an option play, Sundly and Ashley had a miscommunication on who was keeping the ball, and it squirted out from the two and lay motionless in the backfield for a split second before Simley’s Hector Rabelo picked the ball up a bolted the other way.

He was 15 yards clear of everyone before anyone else even knew the ball had hit the grass and he coasted in for a 67-yard fumble return for a touchdown. Simley’s two point conversion was good and they enjoyed a 28-22 lead over the Vikings. The next North Branch drive stalled just past midfield, but a dash of hope came from that. Johnson’s punt on the drive hit the ground just outside of Simley’s 10-yard line and it took a perfect bounce before settling down at the one-yard line. If North Branch’s defense could come up with even a big stop on the drive, the Vikings offense would take over with great field position on offense. Wanzek first handed the ball off to Short to try and get some breathing room and Short gained two years, bringing the ball out to the three yard line. On the next play, North Branch’s worst nightmare became a reality. Wanzek kept the ball himself and broke what seemed like six tackles up the left side before he was free and clear. Wanzek outraced everyone on the North Branch defense and scored a 97-yard touchdown for the Spartans. The two-point conversion was good and it left the Vikings reeling. North Branch’s offense began moving to the air to keep the clock from moving and to get bigger chunks of yards from their plays, but Simley was ready for that and intercepted a Sundly pass at Simley’s 30. They put the exclamation point on their dominating second half with another touchdown run from Wanzek. Simley’s senior do-everything quarterback eventually sealed the game on the next drive, picking off another Sundly pass and preserving Simley’s 42-22 lead.

That tally was eventually the final score in the contest. Wanzek ended the game with 295 yards rushing and three touchdowns while Short had 96 yards and a touchdown. It was the third straight opponent that North Branch has allowed to rush for over 400 yards. On the season, the Vikings have given up 1,720 yards on the ground, an average of 430 per game. North Branch’s next opponent is St. Louis Park. The Orioles are only 1-3 on the season, and if anything can help the Vikings struggling run defense, it’s SLP. Their offense has been fairly anemic this year, scoring just over 11 points per game in regulation. The Vikings will travel down to St. Louis Park for the North Suburban tilt on Friday, Sept. 29.